Rebecca L. Heise, Ph.D.

• Inez A. Caudill, Jr. Distinguished
• Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
• Virginia Commonwealth University

ABSTRACT

• The seminar focuses on developing and applying lung-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) materials to advance the understanding
• and treatment of pulmonary diseases. It emphasizes the bioengineering of ECM-based scaffolds and hydrogels derived from decellularized
• lung tissue, which closely mimic the native lung microenvironment. These materials are utilized to study cellular responses, tissue remodeling,
• and disease progression, focusing on fibrosis, inflammation, and regeneration. The seminar integrates tissue engineering, mechanobiology,
• and pulmonary pathophysiology concepts to highlight innovative in vitro models replicating key aspects of lung disease. This work
• provides a foundation for translational efforts in drug screening and therapeutic development, aiming to improve outcomes for patients
• with conditions such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute lung injury.

BIO

• Dr. Rebecca Heise serves as the department chair of biomedical engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). In 2023, Dr. Heise
• was awarded the Inez A Caudill Jr Distinguished Professorship in Biomedical Engineering. She holds an affiliate appointment in the
• Department of Physiology and Biophysics at VCU. She is a member of the Massey Cancer Center, the Institute for Engineering in Medicine,
• and the Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering. She earned her B.S. in chemical engineering with an additional major in Biomedical
• Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003. She then earned her PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008.
• She then did her postdoctoral work in the Laboratory of Respiratory Biology at the NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, NC. She joined the
• faculty of Biomedical Engineering at VCU in 2010. Dr. Heise’s research focuses on pulmonary mechanobiology and regenerative medicine.
• She seeks to understand how the mechanical environment in the lung influences cellular behavior in health and disease with in vitro and in
• vivo models. Dr. Heise also researches the use of naturally-derived extracellular matrix as a biomaterial for cell and drug delivery to the lung.
• The NIH and foundations have funded her to study the effects of ventilator-induced lung injury on inflammatory cell signaling and rodent
• pulmonary drug delivery, and she has earned a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation for studying cell-ECM interactions in
• pulmonary fibrosis. She is a firm believer in undergraduate research opportunities for underrepresented students and serves as co-PI on the
• NSF REU Site: Mechanobiology at VCU.